Appellate Specialist at Trial

Roach Newton is nationally recognized as being top appellate specialists on trial teams.  This practice focus is based on unique combination of appellate and trial skills best reflected by Randy Roach’s dual national memberships in the invitation-only Am. Academy of Appellate Lawyers and in the Am. Board of Trial Advocates.  He is also board certified in both Civil Appeals and in Personal Injury Trials by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization.

Since the early 80’s, in state and federal courts all over the country, Randy has been the designated appellate lawyer in big dollar trial cases for Fortune 500 companies such as Shell, Waste Management, JB Hunt,  GE Capital, Raytheon, Trinity, CBI, Volvo, Elliott Management, Motiva, and numerous insurance companies.  In hundreds of cases, involving a total value of over $50B, Randy and his law- focused team have not only presented and preserved winning legal arguments at trial for subsequent success on appeal, they have identified, developed, and presented silver bullet legal issues that have resolved cases before appeal, and many times before the end of the trial.  Just a few representative examples of those engagements are sketched below.

Over the past 40 years, Randy and his team have not only continuously honed and refined the legal advocacy at trial skills necessary to accomplish these successful results for their clients, they have also been teaching those skills to lawyers and law students.  Since 2001, Randy has taught these skills to lawyers in national presentations  to the IADC, ABA, and PLAC, and since 1990 he has also taught these trial-related appellate skills to law students in his appellate classes at both the University of Texas and the University of Houston law schools.

Selected Representations:

  • Engaged as appellate specialist at trial to work with national and local trial firms in $1B contract dispute in East Texas, settled during trial based on a legal issue presented during trial by Roach Newton.
  • Engaged as appellate specialist at trial by Dallas-based manufacturing company in two separate federal $750M False Claims Act fraud trials eventually resulting in a reversal and render by 5th Circuit on legal issue presented by Roach Newton at trial.
  • Engaged as appellate specialist in $6B arbitration by foreign-owned oil company against major construction and engineering company for fraud and breach of fiduciary duties.
  • Engaged as appellate specialist at trial by national landfill operator in two Austin defamation trials in which a $51M verdict was ultimately reduced to less than $2M on appellate issues presented at trial by Roach Newton.
  • Engaged as appellate and punitive specialist in a multi-billion-dollar, 100 plaintiff asbestos case in Texas federal court, resulting in zero punitive jury award based on legal arguments developed by Randy Roach.
  • Engaged by major NY-based financial services company as appellate specialist in a $2B securities fraud trial in deep South Texas settled after a defense verdict on legal issues presented by Roach Newton.
  • Engaged as appellate specialist in arbitration over more than $100M in fire damage to Texas oil refinery resulting in significant recovery by Roach Newton’s client based on legal issues developed and presented by Roach Newton.
  • Engaged as appellate trial specialist at trial during second week of a bad faith trial to successfully oppose a mid-trial jury instruction that would effectively end clients’ suit and then winning a trial court ruling in favor of Roach Newton’s clients resulting in a $20M judgment.
  • Engaged by national forest products company as appellate specialist at trial in a multi-million-dollar fraud case in Beaumont federal court resulting in a reversal and rendering in 5th Circuit based on issues presented at trial by Roach Newton.
  • Engaged as appellate specialist in the arbitration of a $300M insurance coverage claim against major international construction all-risk insurer.
  • Engaged as appellate specialist at trial by the top metal can manufacturers in a Federal products liability trial in Tyler, Texas.
  • Engaged as appellate specialist at trial by majority owner of family real estate business in a multi-million-dollar minority freeze-out trial that settled during trial based on legal argument presented by Roach Newton.
  • Engaged as appellate specialist at trial and punitives specialist in negligent soil engineering trial in Beaumont, successfully arguing for zero punitive damage jury award, and settling case before appeal on legal issues presented at trial by Roach Newton.